


Pictures and Confidence

by AnonymousWriter15



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: BAMF Peter Parker, F/F, F/M, Harley Keener Needs a Hug, Hurt Peter, M/M, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker gains confidence, Peter gets rejected, Photographer Peter Parker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:53:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23407861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonymousWriter15/pseuds/AnonymousWriter15
Summary: I don't know what to put here DX. I'm bad at summaries.Basically, Peter gets rejected by Harley. He enters the photography club as distraction so he can move on. He gains friends that help with his confidence.
Relationships: Ben Parker & May Parker (Spider-Man), Harley Keener/Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 148





	Pictures and Confidence

“ _I-I like you! W-Will you go out with me?”_

Peter had honestly expected the answer. But it didn’t mean that it hurts any less.

_“I’m sorry. I appreciate the confession but… I don’t really know you. So I’ll have to say no.”_

Peter didn’t even want to confess. MJ and Ned kind of forced him to. Telling him that the worst possible scenario is he’d get rejected and the guy would be a jerk. It didn’t help Peter’s anxiety but he still did it just to make them stop.

Which leads him to his current predicament. Crying underneath his blanket, alone in his room and pointedly ignoring his ringing phone. He really didn’t want to talk to either Ned or MJ right now. He sniffed to himself and tried to stop crying. May or Ben is going to knock on his door any minute now and he doesn’t want to worry them.

And as if fate was out to get him ~~which it probably is~~ , someone started knocking on his door.

“Pete? Dinner’s ready,” May called out from the other side. “Are you alright in there, Hun?”

Sniffling, Peter pulled the blanket down. “I’m f-fine, May. I’ll be out in a minute.” He winces at how nasally he sounded but hoped May didn’t notice.

“…Peter, are you crying?”

Of course, she noticed.

“No.” Wow, even that sounded unconvincing to his own ears.

His door is opened and May steps inside. She took one look at Peter’s tear-stained face and is by his side in a second, cradling his face and a worried look on her face.

“Oh, honey. What happened?” May asked, pulling him into a hug. “Ned and MJ had been texting me. Saying they were worried about you.”

Peter scoffs but melts into the hug. “I don’t want to talk to them right now. They wouldn’t stop telling me to just confess to my crush, so I did just to make them stop.”

“And?” May prompts as she starts petting his hair.

“I obviously got rejected. I saw it coming which was why I didn’t want to confess!” Peter wailed, hiding his face into May’s shoulder.

May coos and continues to pet his hair, holding him close. They stayed like that for a good long while. Long enough for Ben to pop his head through the doorway.

“Is Pete okay? Dinner’s getting cold,” Ben chirps in, voice soft.

May looks down to see her nephew asleep and sighs. “We can talk about this outside. Lemme just tuck Peter in.”

Ben gives an understanding nod and slips away. May lays Peter down and tucks him into bed. She kisses his forehead and whispers an “I larb you” before leaving.

-0-0-0-0-0-

The first thing Peter registers when he wakes up is his growling stomach. Figures, he fell asleep without eating dinner. He forces himself up and drags his feet towards the kitchen where the delicious smell of pancakes is coming from.

“Morning, Peter,” Ben greets from inside the kitchen, flipping pancakes in front of the stove. “May already left for work.”

Peter sits down with a large yawn. “G’morning, Uncle Ben. What time is it, by the way?”

Humming, Ben looks up at the clock. “It’s already 9:00 am, Pete.”

Peter nods, sleepily, not registering why that seems to bug him. It’s after Ben places a stack of pancakes in front of him when it hit him.

Shooting up, Peter exclaims, “I’m late for school!” He was about to bolt to his room but Ben stops him.

“It’s alright, Pete. We called the school. Told ‘em you were sick for the week,” Ben quickly says.

Peter gave him a confused look. “But why? I’m not sick though.”

Sighing, Ben pulls Peter into a hug. “I know you aren’t. But May thought you might want a break from school and your friends.”

It takes him a moment to understand what his uncle meant, but when he does, Peter lets himself relax into the hug. “I guess since you already called the school, a break sound good. I can start figuring out how to move on from the heartbreak.”

“Atta, boy!” Ben grins and guides him back into the chair. “But first, breakfast!”

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

When Peter came back to school, Ned and MJ quickly apologize to him and he forgives them. He also enters the photography club as distraction from the rejection. But his fellow club mates notices his talent with photography and starts asking him for tips and techniques. Somehow, it went from him teaching them the different techniques and angles to take a picture to his ~~club mates~~ friends helping him with his confidence.

As the year goes by, Peter becomes more confident and becomes quite the heartthrob in school. MJ and Ned are still his best friends but he’s definitely gained new friends. All in all, he concludes that getting rejected wasn’t so bad since it pushed him to a direction that made him come out of his shell.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The moment he walked into the school, Peter stumbles back when a blonde blur barrels into him. It was one of his friends from the photography club, Mariel.

“Good morning, Mari. To what do I owe the pleasure of this early morning hug?” Peter greets as she pulls away.

“Why do you think there’s a reason? Can’t I just hug you because I want to?” Mariel starts but sees the side-eyed look Peter’s giving her and stops. Then she sighs and clings to Peter’s arm. “Fine, fine! Remember the girl I told you about?”

“You mean Melody?” Peter teases and he leads them both into a walk. “The girl you’ve been pinning over for weeks? You’re lab partner since 3 wee-“

“Okay! Okay! I get it. You remember her,” Mariel grumbles, blushing as she punches him on the chest.

Laughing, Peter pokes her cheek. “I’m sorry. But what about her? Did you ask her out already?” They stop at his locker and Peter turns to lean on it, watching Mariel’s rapidly flushing cheeks.

“No, I haven’t yet. But she commented on one of our posts on Instagram,” she starts, “It was the club’s Instagram and she specifically commented on my picture!”

With a raised eyebrow, Peter asks, “Like a picture you took? Or a picture with you in it?”

“A picture with me in it! It was the one you took when we went shopping with the girls,” she practically squealed. “She commented that I rocked that dress.”

“Which you did,” Peter reaffirms before turning around to open his locker. “So what happened next? Did she DM you?” He opens his bag and takes out his chemistry book, replacing it with a calculus book. He also takes out his camera bag and places it inside the locker.

“No, I DMed her. Asking if she wanted to hang out sometime. Oh my goodness! Was that too straightforward?”

Behind him, Peter can hear her start pacing and from the corner of his eye, he sees the object of Mariel’s affections and inner turmoil entering the school. With a grin, he takes out his camera and closes his locker. He spins around to face Mariel while turning his camera on.

“Hey, Mari, mind helping me with a few pics?” Peter asks with an innocent smile, holding his camera up.

Mariel gives him a deadpanned look. “I’m over here panicking and you want to take pictures?”

Peter shrugs. “You’re confident when you’re posing. I just thought it would help you be more confident in properly asking your crush out,” he sheepishly says, tilting his head. From the corner of his eye, he sees Melody approaching them.

Sighing, Mariel concedes and they switch places. For a full 5 minutes, Peter expertly take pictures from different angles, while Mariel changes her pose at least 5 times. With a satisfied hum, Peter nods, going through the pics. He turns to his right in time for Melody (who is definitely blushing) to walk by him.

“Oh, hey Melody!” Peter greets with a smile. “Can I bother you to check on these pictures with me? Another pair of eyes can be helpful.”

“Oh, sure! I don’t mind,” Melody agrees with a sweet smile. She stands beside him as flips through the pictures.

Peter can absolutely feel the glare Mariel is pinning on him but he’s more interested in Melody’s flushing face. A couple of seconds pass before Melody squeaks. Peter checks the picture and had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from smirking. In the picture, Mariel was leaning on the locker, casually with her head turned to the left. She had this smirk on and a raised eyebrow. Peter took the picture while couching to side so the shadows looked nice. He would’ve preferred better lighting but beggars can’t be choosers.

“Ooh, this does look good. Thanks, Melody!” Peter beams before pushing her gently towards Mariel. “By the way, Mari wanted to ask you something.”

“Peter- I swear to God-“

“Oh look! Ned and MJ are here. Gotta blast.” And with that he made a hasty retreat.

“Dude, what the heck?” Ned asks with a chuckle. “When did decide to become a matchmaker?”

Panting, Peter gave him a side eye. “Why? You want me to get you and Betty together?”

Ned splutters while MJ pats him on the back. “Nice one, nerd.”

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

“Alright, class, for your year-end project, I want you to create a robot. It’s alright if you take inspiration from other inventions, but you will be graded for originality. In addition, the robot should be less than 3 feet tall. This project is also by pair. Listen carefully as I pair you all.”

At the back, Peter and Ned grin at each other and cross their fingers. If they become partners, they’ve already planned on making a small R2-D2 or BB-8.

“Ned Leeds and Betty Brant.”

“Wait, what?” Ned whisper-shouted, his face flushing at an alarming pace. Beside him, Peter silently cackled.

“And lastly, Peter Parker and Harley Keener.”

_Oh shit._

“Go to your partners and spend the rest of the class discussing what your robot’s going to be. I need a sketch and a plan of your robot by the end of the week. You have two months before the deadline, make it count.”

Ned turns to his best friend, a worried look on his face. “Can you face him?”

Peter sends him a reassuring smile. “Yep. It’ll be fine. Harley’s a cool guy.” Then that smile morphs into a teasing grin. “Now go to your future girlfriend.”

Ned hesitates but nods and walks to Betty’s table.

“Huh. He didn’t blush.”

Peter jumps at the voice beside him. He turns and sees a sheepish Harley Keener.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to surprise you,” Harley says, scratching his neck, sheepishly.

“It is fine,” Peter reassures, then gestures to the empty seat. “So what do you have in mind for the project?”

Taking the seat beside Peter, Harley hums. “I was thinking maybe an animal? Like a support animal robot that helps with anxiety? But if you don’t like that then-“

“That sounds amazing,” Peter interjects. “Which animal though? A puppy? A kitten?”

“Well since we’re already using my idea, I’ll leave that to you, darling.” Harley grins.

Opting to ignore the heat in his cheeks, Peter smiles back. “Then a puppy it is. How about naming them ‘Bork’?”

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

“For the last time, Pete,” Harley sighs, exasperated. “We are not naming him ‘Borky’.”

“But Harley!” Peter whines from beside him.

“I said no, Peter.”

“But-“

“Nope.”

“I-“

“End of discussion.”

Peter pouts and turns away from him.

Both boys had made a basic sketch and plans of how their robot is going to be made. They’re now just stuck on a name which they’ve started arguing about.

“Oh, come on, Peter,” Harley starts. “You-“

***RING***

“Okay, class dismissed. Don’t forget to turn in your plans and sketch on Friday.”

As they started to gather their things up, Peter absentmindedly asks, “Can I get your number for the project?”

“Oh, sure,” Harley answers, then hold out a hand. “Phone?” Peter pulls his phone out and unlocks it before handing it to him. Harley takes it and quickly types in his number.

After taking it back and adding his contact in under ‘Harley’, Peter couldn’t help but ask if he could take a picture. Surprised but otherwise compliant, Harley nods and shoots the phone camera a grin. The poor boy thought it was going to be a quick pic, but when it comes to Peter and pictures, it never is.

He pulls Harley over to the windows, hums and nods. Then he crouches to the side and asks Harley to smile, who complies, and Peter takes a minute before he’s satisfied of the pictures he’s taken. Curious, Harley walks over to Peter, peering over his shoulder to look at the pictures. He gasps upon seeing it.

“What? Do they look bad?” Peter asks, worriedly.

“No, no! They’re amazing,” Harley replies, sincerely.

Peter shrugs. “Not really. The quality of the camera used could have been better. And the lighting wasn’t as even as I wanted to but we weren’t in the studio so I guess its fine.”

A beat passes before Harley starts laughing, much to Peter’s confusion and indignation.

“I’m serious. The picture could have been taken better,” Peter grumbles, crossing his arms.

Panting, Harley clutches his stomach. “I never said you were wrong. I just didn’t see that comment coming.” He composes himself and wipes a few tears from his eyes before fixing Peter with a smirk. “Although I dunno if you could really top that picture. It looks great to me.”

Peter raises an eyebrow at him. “I assure you it can be taken better.”

“Oh, really? How sure are you about that, Mr. Parker?”

“Exceedingly sure, Mr. Keener. In fact, why don’t you come over to the photography club room later and then I’ll prove that to you.”

“Sounds like a plan, Mr. Parker. I cannot wait for you to ‘prove me wrong’.”

“Oh, consider it done, Mr. Keener.”

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

And that was the start of an unusual friendship. Harley did in fact come to the photography club room and Peter proceeded to not only prove him wrong, but completely exceed his expectations. As his prize, Peter asked to name their robot ‘Borky’ again. Harley concedes to let ‘Borky’ be the nickname and Peter took it as a win.

What followed next was multiple sleepovers in each other’s houses. In the end, they finished creating their project with two weeks to spare. Currently, they’re holed up in Peter’s room, thinking of a final name for their project.

“How about ‘Anxiety Puppy’?” Harley asks while sitting backwards on a chair facing Peter who is sitting crisscross on his bed.

Peter hums. “It’s a little too literal and kind of confuses who’s really anxious.”

“Well I’ve got nothing. How did coming with the name become the hardest obstacle for us?” Harley wails as he threw his hands up.

Peter shrugs, smiling. “Well we still have like 2 weeks to think of a name. Wanna talk about something else?”

“Sure, why not.” Harley gets up and joins Peter on the bed. “Hi.”

“Hey.”

“So, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask,” Harley starts, nervously.

“Yeah?”

“Have you… Have you forgiven me for you know… rejecting you?”

_Ah_ , Peter thinks, _that’s why he was so hesitant before._

“I mean, I was never really mad at you in the first place. You have a right to reject people that you don’t like and don’t know. I understood that and was never mad at you,” Peter answers as truthfully as he could.

“Really? That’s good then,” Harley sighs, relieved. He pauses, like he’s contemplating on something before taking a deep breath and looking Peter straight in the eye. “And for the record, I may not have personally known you BUT I did know that you existed. I also thought you were cute.”

_Hold up. Back up. What? Harley Keener knew he existed and thought HE, Peter Parker, was cute… What the actual fu-_

“Seriously?” Peter asks is disbelief.

And Harley ~~this beautiful boy~~ laughs, sheepishly. “I did. I swear. My friends were calling me out on crushing on a guy I didn’t even know but I really thought you were cute. Wait-no. Still is cute.”

Peter.exe has stopped working.

“And they’ve been telling me to either ask you to be my friend or ask you out at some point and I’ve been considering it honestly,” Harley adds, looking away as a blush appears on his face.

But if that were the case then-

“Why did you reject me?” Peter asks out loud. He’s thoroughly confused. If Harley had already meant to ask him out, why did he still reject Peter?

At this, Harley pulls his knees up and sighs. “You asked me at a pretty bad timing. That day, I was… stressed. As you know, I live with my mama and my little sister, Abby. I’ve already told you how my father abandoned us, right? Well he came to our house the night before. Mama let him in out of politeness but it was obvious he wasn’t really welcome. Still, the old fart had the gall to ask us how we’ve been. Mama had at least been straight to the point and asked what he needs from us. And that piece of shit asked for money. The old fart had a large debt and wanted us to help pay for it. Before he could even finish, Mama threw him out, yelling that if he ever tried to come near us again, she’ll get a restraining order on him. The next day, I was still pissed that that man showed up. I guess it showed because most of my friends were giving me a wide berth.”

Without question, Peter opens his arms and Harley falls into them with a grateful smile. “When you asked me to meet you at the back of the school, I didn’t really realize it was you. All I kept thinking was of how much I wanted that day to be over so I could go home. So I rejected you without realizing who you were. The next morning though, it struck me that I just rejected my crush. When I came to school, I had planned to talk to you and clear things up but you were absent. Same goes for the rest of the week. When you did come back, you were avoiding everyone and everything. I thought that I already blew up my chances so I might as well not bother you so you can properly move on.”

That was definitely not the explanation Peter expected. But it also filled him with relief knowing Harley had liked him back. It seems his Parker Luck had struck him again without Peter even knowing.

This does beg one question.

With a deep breath, Peter asks, “Do you still like me?”

Harley looks at him, surprised but smiles, shyly. “I honestly do. More so now that I actually got know you better.”

“Then would you like to accompany me on a date, Mr. Keener?” Peter asks, grinning brightly.

With the same bright smile, Harley nods. “Why I would love to, Mr. Parker.”


End file.
